TRAFFIC: Patrol staffing hurts response time

I feel that authorities and experts are missing an important contributor to Interstate 5 congestion. The morbid condition that the Washington State Patrol currently finds itself in due to its recruitment and retention crisis is as much a factor as any of the possible causes listed in the article.

When a blocking vehicle collision in the Fife area has several lanes closed for an extended time, and the closest available trooper is responding from the Joint Base Lewis-McChord area or from the Gig Harbor area, doesn’t this impact our commute times?

Our leaders should be studying the WSP’s response times to these types of blocking incidents. I think they would be shocked to see what they actually are.

An insufficient number of troopers working a major urban corridor, already challenged by other factors, is what really is affecting the daily commute, which in turn is affecting the overall quality of our lives.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 1:11 PM with the headline "TRAFFIC: Patrol staffing hurts response time."